Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

County Adopts Burn Ordinance

There was nothing but harmony at the Clark County Quorum Court meeting Monday night.

The justices of the peace were in complete agreement on all issues, which led to a 30 minute meeting.

However, just because the meeting was short did not mean nothing was done.

In fact, the court adopted a new ordinance on burning within the county.

According to the ordinance, it is against the law for any person, firm or corporation to burn or cause any refuse to be burned, except as approved under the state fire code.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office has been charged with enforcing the new ordinance. This means anyone caught burning anything during a burn ban will be given a citation by the CCSO and have to appear before a municipal judge.

The judge will set the fine depending on the severity of the situation.

Clark County Judge Grady Runyan said people need to call the CCSO or the judge's office before burning anything anyway.

"Before this ordinance was passed," he said, "only the (Arkansas) Forestry Service could levy fines for burning under burn bans."

The court was in such agreement on the issue there was no discussion. It was passed as soon as the ordinance was read.

The harmony was such as to see no discussion on applying for an $11,000 grant for the Curtis Volunteer Fire Department.

It, too, was passed upon the completion of its reading.

The resolution gives Runyan permission to apply for the Arkansas Rural Fire Protection Grant through the Arkansas Rural Development Commission.

Under the resolution, the Curtis VFD has plans on adding to its current fire station.

This is a 50-50 matching grant, with the community assuring the court it has already raised it's share of the matching funds.

Because of the increase in the workload on the county's road department, Runyan asked for, and received, approval to hire another worker for the department.

The court changed the county's budget to reflect the extra salary of $15,965 per year, and the ensuing benefits therein, totalling $21,627.

Runyan said the extra slot was added on the road department because the county is growing and more work is being done during their work day.

He said if everything holds up this year, even more will be accomplished by the road and bridge crews than was done last year.

According to Runyan, once the weather gets warmer the asphalt crews will hit the streets.

"I'm pleased with the way things are going," he said. "I'm optimistic about the county this year. I believe more has fallen into place than people realize. Everything is going smooth."